


Summer Break

by seultoki



Category: Red Velvet (K-pop Band)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-08
Updated: 2017-04-08
Packaged: 2018-10-16 09:17:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10568274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seultoki/pseuds/seultoki
Summary: 17 year old Irene was left to babysit her neighbor's feisty daughter during summer and it was possible that she would like a bullet to her head more.





	

**Author's Note:**

> A short Yerene I wrote for my friend Lex few weeks ago. Please repeat after me: "Yerene best mom, best daughter."

Summer holiday was supposed to be fun.

Irene’s first day of summer her parents brought her a nine year old instead.

Irene frowned and frowned and frowned, staring down at the elementary school girl in twin ponytails with little to no acceptance.

She had recognized the kid immediately, the daughter of the couple next door who apparently had forsaken her for a Hawaii trip.

“It’s just an unfortunate incident.” Irene’s father explained. “She was supposed to go to a summer camp while her parents were away but --“ Irene tuned out the rest of his explanation, because for her it all meant exactly the same.

It meant that she had to cancel her Jeju trip with her friends because her parents would be working away and nobody would be home to take care of the little...devil.

The kid looked nowhere near devilish with her huge, innocent eyes but Irene decided to name her devil anyway because she had practically ruined her summer.

Her sophomore summer break which was the last break she could get before her hellish third year.

Irene frowned so hard all her facial features might disappear into one point.

Her parents kissed her goodbye and muttered one more apology before exiting the house, leaving her alone with the small girl her elbow height who now looked up to her with expectation.

Irene clamped a hand to her forehead and muttered to herself.

_Shit._

 

\------------------------------------------

 

Yeri, as the small devil’s name turned out to be, had the penchant to be really picky with food.

Irene had asked her if she was hungry out of politeness, but the answer had her head throbbing with pain and she wished that she hadn’t asked.

“I want sushi.” The nine year old declared firmly, standing straight with her chin up on the air as if any other food would be accepted only as blasphemy.

“There’s no sushi here.” Irene tried to compromise, sighing slightly. “How about some kimbab? They are similar anyway.”

Yeri blinked at her as if she was a particularly slow moron.

“They are very different.” She said in all seriousness. “The one has sesame oil and the other one doesn’t. You can’t be in high school and not know about that.”

“Excuse me?” Irene blinked back at her, moving her head in backward motion at the unbelievable offense.

_What?_

“Sushi.” Yeri repeated calmly, raising one of her index fingers as if the discussion had been ended there by her. “With salmon.”

She turned and padded away, leaving Irene to stare at her with slacking mouth.

 

\--------------------------------------------------

 

“Can you believe I get bossed around by a nine year old? A freaking nine year old?”

Irene grumbled into her phone, flopping on her bed back first as she stared at the ceiling above her with frustration.

“She made me run across the neighborhood looking for sushi. A goddamn salmon sushi with vinegared rice and not sesame oil because then it will be a kimbab and not a sushi. Do you know about that, Wendy? Do you?”

The girl on the other end laughed, taking amusement at her friend’s predicament. “Actually, I know.”

“Really?” Irene blinked, suddenly feeling mortified about herself. She would not tell this to anyone.

“Yeah, who the hell doesn’t? We are koreans. Wait, never mind, I bet my house Seulgi doesn’t know.”

“I can hear you, you know!” The accused girl shouted from afar, voice drowned by the sound of crashing waves and chirping seagulls. Wendy cackled.

“God, I wish I am there right now with you guys. It’s so...boring here.” Irene picked at her nails, sighing deeply.

“There’s always next time, Irene.”

She was about to talk back to Wendy when a loud yell emanated from the bathroom and snagged her attention.

“Helloooooo? Hellooooo? Can I please have a towel, please? I forgot to bring mine!”

Irene rolled her eyes so hard they were at the danger of disappearing behind her eyesockets forever.

“Gotta go now. The devil is calling.” She bid goodbye to Wendy then and hung up the call shortly after. Snatching a clean towel from her closet, she made her way to the bathroom and knocked on its plastic door.

“Here!” She announced to the feisty kid, who then cracked the door open slightly to poke her head out. “Thanks.” She grabbed the towel and shut the door again.

Five steps into her bedroom, Irene heard another shout.

“Helloooooooo?? Um, can you please bring me my pajama pants? I think I forget to take it with me!”

“Why can’t you ask for everything in one go??” Irene whipped around, yelling at the plastic door stupidly now because her blood pressure had shot through the roof.

“It’s called forget because...I just remember it now!”

“Ugh.” Irene stomped into her bedroom and squatted down to flick the elementary school girl’s suitcase wide open.

The sight inside was so horrendous she cringed.

Multitude of clothes looked like they were snatched and shoved into the square box within last minute. They resembled a treacherous, wrinkled mess of a mountain.

Irene grimaced at the disorder.

Not allowed to ignore by the complete clean freak in her, she swept all the messy clothes in her arms and carried them downstairs.

 

\------------------------------------------

 

“Why did it take 30 minutes to get me my pajama pants?” Yeri folded her tiny arms in front of her chest, looking like she had been terribly wronged. “It was freezing cold in the bathroom and I had no pants!”

“I had to iron it first, okay? It looked like a complete disaster!”

“But why would you iron a pajama pants? It is supposed to be worn to sleep!”

“Just --“ Irene whipped around, now sucking in a deep breath to refrain herself from fighting with a kid eight years younger. “Just -- just be quiet for a second, okay?”

“That second is gone now.” Yeri tutted, making Irene blink at her with disbelief. “Poof.”

If she had a dollar for every time this kid made her speechless, she would be sewing money for carpet right now.

“Do you have video games?”

Yeri ignored her stunned expression and wobbled to the TV room to curl her fingers around an old, dusty Playstation One.

“People still have this?? Oh my god.”

Irene lunged at her direction with breakneck speed and nearly toppled over the sofa in the process. “Excuse me,” she said defensively, snatching over the old console. “It’s a classic. I’m a 91 baby.”

“So you admit to being a _baby_.”

“Shut up.”

“Oh, and now you are using harsh words. I’m gonna tell your momma.” Yeri giggled, a long, first funny giggle she released that made Irene want to weirdly snort along despite how annoying it was.

She tossed a sofa cushion at the little girl instead.

“Do that and I will iron you instead of your pajama next time.”

That effectively shut the little girl up as her eyes widened. She looked seriously concerned. “You are not gonna do that.”

“Try me.” Irene said smugly, feeling ridiculously accomplished that she managed to scare the nine year old. Hah. So who’s the boss now, you little shit?

“Anyway, can we try to play this?” Yeri attempted to evade the scary discussion and picked up an old disc instead. “I’ve always wanted to try Crash Bandicot’s Racing.”

Irene snickered with conceit. “You will lose. I always win that one. It’s my thing.”

“Try me.” Yeri puffed her chest out, chin jutting out challengingly.

“Alright then.” Irene turned the TV and console on, putting in the disc swiftly. “But don’t cry at me later when you lose five times in a row.”

“I will never.” Yeri flopped on the spot right next to her, sitting cross-legged on the carpet as she grabbed a controller and stared at the screen firmly. “Because I ain’t losing.”

The game took off ceremoniously and Irene hit on her buttons with all her might.

The first round went to her easily, and she cheered obnoxiously loud as she waved her arms around on the air in a true elementary kid’s fashion. The actual elementary kid stared at her with disbelief from the side.

“I won! I won! You lost! HAHA!”

Yeri squinted at her. “No need to be obnoxious about it. Again.”

“Alright, let’s go for five rounds then. Another four!”

The second round went to her again and Irene practically shot up from the carpet to flail her arms around like a stupid flappy bird. “I’m going to end you in just three rounds at this rate! Hah!”

Yeri frowned, concentrating with her utmost power at the screen now as she gripped her controller tighter.

The third round, surprisingly, went to --

“YOU LOST!” Yeri practically hollered into her face, her scream of victory echoed throughout the building it might wake up the poor dog next door. “I WON, HAHAHA!”

“That’s -- that’s ridiculous!” Irene blubbered, throwing her controller onto the carpet in panic as she clasped her hands on her hips. “You bombed my car!”

“Please, that’s the point of the game. Everybody bombs everybody. That’s why they make the bombs.”

Irene looked like her entire family had been robbed.

“Again!”

Another round commenced, and as it kept going on and on to the fifth match, Yeri ended the long run with a celebratory yell.

“Two to three! You lost! HAHAHAHAHA!”

“That’s so unfair!” Irene shouted, throwing her poor controller down the carpet. “You -- you are just having beginner’s luck! We should have another five rounds to test!”

Yeri stopped whooping around and looked at her, blinking widely in total disbelief.

“What?”

“You heard what! I’m not letting you get away with luck!”

“You gotta be kidding me.” Yeri gaped at her, floored. “Oh god, you are five years old. I’m leaving you to nap.”

“Nobody naps until I win!”

“What kind of logic is that?”

“My logic!”

Irene grabbed her by her t-shirt and pulled her down to sit with her again.

“Another round!”

And it commenced for another round, and then another round, until it was suddenly dark outside and the next thing Irene knew, her parents had returned from work.

The first day had been gone, and it had been gone unbelievably faster than Irene had first expected.

 _Oh._ She mouthed to herself, surprised.

_Not bad..._

 

\---------------------------------------

 

The number you are calling is currently out of reach. Please try again later or leave a message after...

Beep.

“She still doesn’t pick up her phone.” Wendy swiveled her gaze to Seulgi, who was busy nibbling on her grilled meat on the other end of the table rather indifferently.

“Do you think she murders the poor child and presently tries to burry her body in a forest far away or something?”

Seulgi choked on her food and hit on her chest in an attempt to stop the cough. She hurriedly grabbed a glass of water.

“Or, she can just be a normal person and actually have fun with the kid right now. Sounds much better for when someone is swallowing their dinner, don’t you think?”

Wendy grinned at her sheepishly and nodded. “My bad. Too many CSI episodes have been watched.”

 

\-------------------------------------------

 

“Did you cry?”

Yeri folded her tiny arms, scrutinizing Irene’s swollen, reddened eyes with great precision as if she was the up-and-coming Sherlock. “You totally cried.”

“I didn’t.” Irene balked. One of her fingers swept at the corner of her eyes to brush away the remaining tears.

Yeri’s whole body shook with restrained giggles that threatened to leave her mouth any moment now.

_Oh God, she is really five._

“Okay if you say so. That movie wasn’t really sad anyway. It was kind of lame --“

“It wasn’t lame!” Irene stomped on the floor, suddenly feeling very defensive over the cartoon that had made her cry silly in the cinema moments ago. “It was actually very sad! The elephant died while trying to save the kid and he didn’t even know that until he had jumped over the cliff safely and --“

Yeri clamped her lips together as tight as possible in order to not laugh but it was impossible when Irene was being all defensive and angry.

She broke into whooping laugh.

The older girl glared. “Fine. Fine you little shit. I cried. I cried the entire movie! Are you happy now?”

She stormed away from the cinema’s lobby as Yeri chased her from behind.

“Wait! I have little legs!”

Irene stopped and turned around just in time for the tiny girl to crash into her stomach and hugged her with blissful laughter, small arms wrapping tightly around her middle.

“Oh my god. I love watching movie with you. We should do this again next time. You are so fun to watch with.”

Irene’s cheeks colored because she was unused to having little kids admitted so openly that they liked her company. She morphed into an awkward, stiff block of wood.

“You mean I’m fun _to watch._ ” She cleared her throat bashfully. “Anyway, are we still going to get that ice cream or not?”

Yeri straightened immediately as if she had heard a presidential order. “Definitely. I want the mango flavored one. And milkshake.”

“Tall order.” Irene wheeled around and pretended to walk away. “But alright, let’s go.”

“Yay!” Yeri cheered happily behind her and skipped along to catch up with her steps. Once she did, she lifted a hand to clutch at Irene’s and remained bouncing as they walked together.

It was a great night out.

 

\----------------------------------------------------

 

“How do you know how to do that?”

Irene frowned at the computer screen, watching the nine year old expertly moved about the internet browser to install ad-blocker and whatnot.

“I didn’t even know that existed. I’ve always surrendered to the annoying ads.”

“That’s 'cause you are a grandma.” Yeri tutted, clicking away at the mouse and dragging it with ease. Irene pulled at her ear and she immediately regretted.

“Ouch. I’m reporting you for parental abuse.”

“I’m not your parent.”

Yeri’s face seemed to fall slightly at the mention and her voice turned somber. “No, you are not. But you are kinda better, which is sad.”

Irene felt like she caught on something strange there, but it was quickly dismissed by the smaller girl. “Anyway, can we sleep now? The ad-blocker is done. You can browse all your limited edition fabric softeners now without any distraction.”

“Thanks.” Irene mumbled, watching the tiny girl hopped onto her bed with unsettled feelings.

She looked sad.

“Here, blanket.” Irene took a freshly washed soft, purple blanket from the pile of her clean laundry and handed it to the girl.

“Thanks.” Yeri muttered, saying no more as she pulled the nicely scented cover over herself and nuzzled into her pillow.

Irene turned the computer and lamps off, and then headed to climb onto her own spot on the bed.

“I’m sorry that I messed your summer plan.” Yeri muttered quietly with her back still turned to Irene. “I knew that it annoyed the hell out of you. You probably can’t wait for me to go home. I’m really sorry.”

Irene looked over to her side and her forehead crinkled. “It’s okay.” She considered for a while. “It’s been quite a good summer, actually. You should go to sleep now and stop saying weird stuffs.”

Yeri flipped over to look at her with something akin to surprise.

“Oh, okay...good night, Irene unnie.”

Irene looked back at her, caught off guard that she had called her ‘unnie’ for the first time.

She smiled.

“Good night, Yeri.”

 

\------------------------------------------

 

The day had finally come for Yeri’s parents to return from their overseas trip.

The resolute knock came on Irene’s house early in the morning, and her father was the one who opened the door and welcomed the whirring pair.

Yeri dragged her suitcase down from the second floor without any word and Irene’s heart squeezed a little at the fact that she looked very gloomy.

She felt gloomy herself, which sucked big time.

She hated saying goodbye.

“Thanks a lot for taking care of Yeri the whole summer, Irene. We owe you a lot. She can be serious trouble sometimes. I hope she didn’t give you too much hard time.”

Irene smiled awkwardly into the brief hug Yeri’s mother offered her and responded honestly. “Not at all, mam. She’s a very good girl. She’s nowhere near trouble.”

She looked down at Yeri who appeared to be anything but comfortable in her parents’ presence. She was outright grumpy as she kept her eyes on the ground.

“Can we go home now? We have bothered Irene unnie and her family enough.”

Her mother smiled awkwardly and stretched a hand for her to take. “Come on then, we should leave. Thanks again, Irene, and Mr. and Mrs.Bae.”

Yeri took her mother’s hand, and after one last glance at Irene, she muttered a quiet “Bye, unnie” and padded away.

“Um, Yeri, wait!” Irene called out before she could think, and now everyone turned around to look at her with questions.

_Oh crap._

She cleared her throat awkwardly and pushed past her shyness to speak.

“You know you can always come here if nobody is home to keep you company, right? You are always welcomed.”

Yeri blinked at her widely then, and her eyes sparkled brightly like that time when Irene bought her mango ice cream.

Irene’s lips split into a huge, fat grin. “You can call me first to make sure that I’m home. I’ll give you my cell number.”

The smile flashing on Yeri’s face mirrored her own, and the little girl practically dashed back into the house to crush her with a giant stuffed toy kind of hug.

Irene was pushed back by the sheer force but laughed as she let herself get squished.

“Thanks, unnie!” Yeri buried her face into the fabric of her sweater and grinned up at her. “I love you a lot!”

Irene ruffled her hair and laughed, her parents watching the entire exchange with rather amused expressions.

Well, maybe babysitting was not such a bad idea for her...

 

\-------------------------------------------------


End file.
